La maledizione
Yesterday I turned the last page of Phil Stanford's new book about the 1989 assassination of Michael Francke, the railroading of Frank Gable, and the escape from justice pulled off by the people who engineered the murder and the cover-up. When I put the book down, I sat there for a long while catching my breath.
Yes, the story has been told many times – first in newspaper columns, then in a movie, then on television, podcasts, blog posts, you name it. But to have it all in black and white, on paper, updated, with photos, and with the names all named – it makes a different kind of impact.
Stanford serves here as a conscience for Oregon, which without him wouldn't have any. The killing of Francke and the destruction of Frank Gable's life were pure, unadulterated evil that almost got swept under the rug entirely. And there are people still alive who were in on it, at least parts of it, and have not been called to account. Except, it seems, in this extremely important book.
Stanford begins and ends his chilling tale, the product of decades of work and reflection, with the observation that the Francke murder and Gable prosecution have cursed Oregon and its institutions for more than 35 years. I can't help but agree.
Sad but true…
ReplyDeleteAin’t nuthin’ new under the sun.
The Oregon DOJ fought like hell to keep Gable in prison.
ReplyDeleteIn 2019, the Oregon Department of Justice appealed a federal judge’s ruling ordering either the release or a new trial for Frank Gable. Why? After 30 years, are they afraid that releasing him could expose ongoing corruption in Salem?
It would be amazing for Oregon's Attorney General to launch a new, honest, thorough investigation into the murder of Michael Francke. It would also be amazing to see a herd of pigs fly over the capitol in Salem. Both have about the same chance or occurring.
ReplyDeleteThere some fairly well known local "conservative" columnists that are poo-pooing the book and Phil as some sore of vanity project that he couldn't let go and think the case was airtight.
ReplyDeleteTo them I say... Well you know what I want to say- it starts with big capital F
I doubt they lived here when it happened. The whole thing stunk to high heaven from the very beginning. Even Christine Drazan has publicly called for a new investigation.
DeleteI never thought it was about money. I think ghost payrolls are hard to bury. I think he stumbled across a powerful person’s “indiscretion”. I think it was about someone’s personal behavior.
DeleteI read Phil's book-- it was good. In the end, as in many things, the actual corruption that Francke uncovered would not be that unusual in correctional systems... a few people would have lost their jobs or gone to jail for a few years, it would be a week long story. However, instead it was the coverup (and murder of Francke) which was the big story. People want to protect their jobs.
ReplyDeleteI have followed Phil's columns on this issue since he first started writing these when worked for the Oregonian. The State of Oregon should make this a priority to do a full and unabashed investigation. What really get's me is that all of these people obviously profited greatly from corruption and greed, and threw Franke's and Gable's life away to protect their scams. While I hope the ongoing law suit will net Gable an 8 or 9 figure settlement, the downside is that those funds are paid for by the tax payers of Oregon, while the scum who railroaded him and killed Franke get to keep their retirement pay and all the funds from their corruption.
ReplyDelete